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Dump
Dump, formerly known as Interstate 115 Waste Management Plant, is a large fortified settlement located deep within the southern Montana badlands. Here, in this dry, routinely frigid environment, the vast scrapmetal walls and towers of Dump scrape the skies and draw the eyes from miles around. Founded by a band of scavengers and tribals in 2099, Dump has grown into a major locus of economic and military power over the centuries, becoming more than the sum of its parts. Now Dump boasts a robust economy built on the salvage and sale of rare electronics, recycled scrap metals, and even a small deal of manufactured goods and weapons churned out by the varied blacksmithing operations deep within her interior. The relatively recent addition of the use of biofuels and biodegradable materials for the use of agriculture within her leviathan walls as further enriched the settlement, making her inhabitants less and less dependent on outside trade for bare survival. But most pronounced is the recent military reform the local militia has undergone, blending the warrior traditions of the natives of the Dump with ancient battlefield doctrines to produce perhaps one of the best organized professional military forces in the badlands. The people of Dump are a farily cosmopolitan population, being made up of all sorts, from wayward merchants to hardened semi-tribal warriors, even a local cult of robot worshiping transhumanists. But all these distinct groups and factions have melded together to form a tough, rugged, and resourceful people who value their own indepenance above all. To this end, the Dump has a proud military tradition and history, long standing in direct defiance to would be despots and warlords. The settlement also has a tradition of democratic or at least mediocratic oligarchical rule. Very rarely can it be said any one man rules Dump, power having traditionally been divided amongst the varied clans and factions that keep the city running on a day to day basis. History 2099: Founding 2099-2105: First Fortifications and Establishment of the Captiol Culture Dump has long been a melting pot of peoples and ideals, her original settlers being a band of tribals who sought shelter from the unrelenting wind, dust, and snow of the Montana badlands. From these first desperate gatherings of primitives the settlement has gradually grown into a large, robust beacon of civilization in a hellish quagmire of anarchy and violence. Over the centuries, Dump has become home to varied coalitions, families, clans, and even a few religious cults. But of these many, only a few have risen to and remained prominent enough to warrant political influence and power. The Wreckers Descended from the first human settlers of Dump, the Wreckers have transformed radically over the last two centuries. Originating from bands of scavengers, refugees, and survivalists scattered to the wastes during the hellish atomic onslaught that was the Great War, the peoples that would form the Wreckers were once little different from the now distant and savage badlands tribes of eastern Montana. But once these first primitive newcomers huddled in the moldering scrapyards of Dump, they set themselves on a path of far greater consequence. Dubbing themselves the Wreckers, due their original settlements in the car wrecking yards, the tribe prospered over the years, using the ample scrap to forge simple fortifications and weapons. Using Dump as a home base, the Wreckers could disperse across the badlands, pillaging what might remain in the far flung townships and windblasted wastes in the surrounding region. When the merchants and prospectors arrived from the more civilized foothill country to the west, the Wreckers were at first territorial, but eventually accepted an alliance with the outsiders, allowing them to set up camps and shanties, in exchange for a share of their profits and tributes of food and medicine. From then on, Dump grew, slowly but surely, and so did the ranks of the Wreckers. Tribals intermarried with outsiders, and slowly the tribe became more an extended clan, a gathering of diverse people unified by nothing else but old traditions, faith, and blood. Now the name of Wrecker is only evoked by a handful of extended clans. These old, prestigious families and their kin are considered by many to be the heart and soul of Dump. Many of the Wreckers keep to the old ways, worshiping the traditional quartet of tribal gods and holding a myriad of superstitions. Chief amongst these gods is Hobb, patron god of travelers, the winds, war, and storms. He is followed then by his wild daughter, Theres, goddess of war and spoils as well as patron of hunters and defenders of home and hearth. Then there is Bogg, Hobb's brother and god of agriculture, healing, and patron of the dead and dying. Finally there is Myrda, wife to Hobb and crone goddess of prophecy, childbirth, and bringer of magical curses against the enemies of the tribe. Most Wreckers live in the Basin, the central region of Dump, where scant moisture and refuse has long since gathered and rotted to become a sort of cold swamp or grotto which is now the center of operations for the Planters and their agricultural experiments. While the Wreckers have little patience for the ways of the erudite Planters, they abide their meddling in the ancestral swamps in which their dead have been buried for centuries. The Wreckers tend to be the laborers, blacksmiths, prospectors, architects, and soldiers of Dump. As a simple folk of simple ways, it comes as no surprise that the varied families that claim to be of the extended Wrecker clan tend to be proud of their humble beginnings and honest trades. The Wreckers tend to be less than educated, with only a handful of them being fully literate, but more than make up for these failings with a hardy constitution, loyalty to the settlement as a whole, and dogged tenacity against all odds. The Planters Cult of the Electrode A secluded and insular religious order inhabiting the tallest structure in all of Dump, their so-called Temple of the Divine Spark, the Cult of the Electrode is a less than welcome but nonetheless essential part of Dump's continuous prosperity. Appearing out of the badlands in 2122, the pilgrims of the Cult of the Electrode payed handsomely in a staggering sum of caps for a then underutilized piece of land and with their robotic cohorts built their vast lighting rod of a holy site in short order. The Cult claimed to have the secret to immortality and freedom from the woes of the world. Freedom from hunger, thirst, fatigue, and even the suffering brought on by human emotion. They claimed to find a way to strip the human soul of "impurities" and render the mortal soul forever ascended. Such claims tend to be dubious in the best of times, but especially so when the Cult's method of achieving such ascension was finally revealed. By hooking up devotees via a series of wires and electrodes to a dormant robot, then passing a fatal current through the two vessels, the Cult believes they can transfer their consciousness and soul into the incorruptible form of the machine. While it took the denizens of the Dump some time to adjust to their freakish new residents, the wealth of technical knowledge and isolationist nature of the cult has diffused most tension between the cultists and their commoner neighbors. Obsessed with transcending their very human frailty, it is not often that members are properly "inducted" into the ranks of those who have ascended before. Members of the cult must spend their lives pondering the philosophies of machine-like thought, only when one operates solely on logical and rational thought can they even begin to prepare their soul for the transition into the paradise of an immaculate machine form. Such study and constant maintenance of the shells they will soon inhabit make members of the cult ideal for scavenging rare electronics and repairing otherwise irreplaceable relics of ancient technology making the cults guild of engineer-priests invaluable to Dump's scrap economy. While most outsiders view the cult as an insane death-cult obsessed with preparing their members to die in an agonizing manner, few can argue that the robots brandishing the cult's sacred markings and vestments act in manners quite outside what would be their typical perimeters. While a Protectron of the cult might well continue to belt out nonsensical scripted dialogue regarding work quotas or railway maintenance, it may also be capable of planning out complex maneuvers on the battlefield and often act with an alarming amount of ingenuity when left to their own devices. Thus, no one knows for certain if the cult's doctrine is truly raving madness, or if perhaps a kernel of truth rests within that byzantine tower of scrap and copper wiring. The Sword School The Carmen Economy Government Dump is nominally an oligarchy made up of elected or charismatic representatives of various factions or subcultures within the greater collective of the settlements populace, known simply as the Council. Originally, Dump was little more than an alliance or confederation of a single large band of tribals known as the Wreckers, and a small co-op of junk merchants and prospectors. In those early days of the 2100's, the Dump was vast enough that these varied groups could inhabit the area and have little direct contact with one another. But as Dump grew and more people settled, it became essential to create some form of governing politic to see to the needs of the community. The first Council consisted of four individuals, a tribal representative, the head of the then brand new Cult of the Electrode, and two representatives of the merchant coalition. As of the modern era, the Council has expanded to over twelve seats. Five of these seats are given over to prominent Wrecker clans, the Darcy, McDowell, Hayes, Muller, and Grubb clans to be specific. Another three seats are given over to the representatives of the most wealthy Carman families, the Fuller, Vasquez, and Carlsbad families. Finally, a seat is given over to the high priest of the Cult of the Electrode, the lead researcher of the Planters, the Grand Master of the Sword School, and finally to the spokesman of the Commons. The Wrecker clans are generally a divisive bunch, with each of the five major clans having their own feuds and alliances, and thus their votes are often vied over by the various other members of the council, each pandering to the largest voting bloc in an attempt to push through any legislation they may have purposed. However, more than once the Wreckers have united against their fellow council-members, grinding the political machinery of the Dump to a halt in protest of measures that may threaten the prosperity and position of the Wrecker clans as a whole. The Carmen families meanwhile are broadly interested in commerce, trade, and the general financial well-being of the city their ancestors helped build. Generally they put forth their money and influence to the approval of various tariffs and security measures to ensure their caravans are well supplied for their treacherous forays into the badlands. The Carmen often collude with the spokesman of the the Commons, often concerning themselves with the happiness of the Dump's strictly noncitizen population, as they bring in the most caps and coin. The representative of the Cult of the Electrode is often only concerned in matters of security and continued prosperity of the faith of which he is the acting figurehead of. Therefore, his vote can be considered both the easiest and hardest to secure depending upon the issue at hand. And whilst the cult may have but one vote, the goodwill of the cult as a whole is often considered invaluable to the continued survival of Dump. Thus, the high priest of the cult is often bombarded with offers and favors in order to secure his backing. The head researcher of the Planters often concerns herself with both the continued support for her group's experimentation and with the health of the settlement itself. The spokesman of the Commons Military Founded by a tough and resourceful alliance between semi-nomadic junk merchants and hardened tribals, it is no small surprise that the Dump has long stood in the face of adversity for nigh on two centuries now, resilient like an old leather boot. In the earliest days, the ragtag militia consisted of tribal warriors of the Wrecker tribe and the hired guns of the junk dealers on the outskirts, the two groups working for the greater prosperity of the settlement for decades. As the 2100's rolled on and Dump grew prosperous, the more modernized forces of Dump became more akin to what they are today. Metal armor was forged from car parts and other such odds and ends, crude metal javelins and cleavers gave way to sturdy swords, shields, and crossbows to supplement the odd gun or homemade musket. Soon it became known far and wide that to trifle with the junk dealers of Dump was to bring down the wrath of warbands of ferocious, heavily armored warriors, who would wade through bullets and explosions to close with the enemy and slaughter them with brutal melee weapons. Though certainly formidable, for the better half of a century little was done to formalize the armed forces of Dump, with the militia being formed mostly of land owning residents and whatever sellswords and mercenaries the settlement could employ through their mercantile contacts prior to any conflict. Small attempts had been made in the past to create organized regiments of fighting men, but most of these forays into modernization and organization were preformed on a small scale, usually within individual warbands. While these groups met with success, more often than not this training and skill would decay in times of peace and fall into disuse within a generation or two. However, with the arrival of the traveling swordmaster, Otto von Kleist, and the establishment of his so-called "Sword School", the armed forces of Dump saw a radical reform into a professional army. Offering room and board in exchange for oaths of loyalty and a minor fee, the Sword School became a major draw to the already bustling settlement. Foreigners and locals of every stripe flocked to learn the ancient and deadly arts of war as they had been millennia ago, now once again applicable in this age of scarcity and anarchy. By 2234, the so-called Scrapblade Brigade was formed, its core being the students of the aged swordmaster. Funded and supported by the community as a whole, this formalized fighting force was considered vital following the brutal war against the Mallrat raiders and their badlands tribal allies during the summer of 2233, in which Otto's "Rust Dragons" played a vital role. As of 2289, the organization and structure of the Scrapblade Brigade has long since been codified, and is now one of the foremost fighting forces in the Montana wasteland. Marching to battle as the ancient Tercio's of Spain did over a thousand years ago, the Scrapblade Brigade is primarily made up of mighty, heavily armored pike phalanxes. These "Pike and Shot" formations may seem archaic to the educated, but to the average raider or wasteland monster, this almost solid block of heavily armored, heavily armed wall of pikes forms a formidable foe. With contingents of skirmishers armed with an ad-hoc ranged weapons operating in the fore, and heavily armored swordsmen protecting the flanks, the phalanx is all but invulnerable to any attack from melee. Though powerful explosives such as missile launchers or hand grenades can sew no small amount of havoc amongst these tightly packed formations, the heavily armored nature of the Dump's warriors mean that even a direct strike will only kill or maim a scant handful of these fighters. When pressed by such countermeasures, the Scrapblade's drop their pikes, and form into loose bands of sword and pistol or sword and shield armed warbands supported by ranged skirmishers, capable of quickly closing with their foe and silencing their big guns. As it has been since the time of Otto von Kleist, the Scrapblade Brigade has been commanded and organized by the edicts of the Grand Master of the Sword School, who oversees much of the production of their weapons and armor as well as their training, room and board, and serves as the overall commander and chief of Dumps armed forces when they are mustered in the interests of the settlement. However, in times of peace, the now seven regiments of the Scrapblade Brigade are scattered to their various holds and keeps within the Dump, under the jurisdiction of various local leaders. This ensures that the Grand Master of the Sword School can never allocate total control over the Scrapblades, though nominally his own personal regiment, the Rust Dragons, are considered the best armed and trained due to their proximity to the Grand Master. The modern command structure of the Scrapblade Brigade is straightforward in times of peace and war, with the Grand Master assuming the role of overall commander during times of war, the Brigadier Generals acting as field commanders of their own regiments. In times of peace, the Brigadier Generals answer to their local community leaders and elected officials within the greater interior of Dump, who are in turn generally held at the beck and call of the Council, a body of civil and religious leaders usually numbering no more than twelve individuals. Points of Interest The Scrap-metal Bulwark The walls of Dump are some of the most impressive post-war man made structures in the whole of the Montana Badlands. Standing over two stories tall at their tallest and no less than one and a half story tall at their shortest, the mighty scrap-metal and cement walls of Dump encompass the whole of the sizable settlement over over four hundred souls. Thick enough that its very structure is honeycombed with various barracks and watchtowers, and so heavily fortified that nothing short of siege weaponry or heavy explosives could even put a dent in it, Dumps walls have an almost legendary endurance to even the most dedicated assault. While various sections have been breached over the years, since the construction of the first set of walls now located within the heart of Dump in 2105, no invader has ever set foot within the Rusty Capitol. The Carlsbad Line Named after the tenacious warrior that singlehandedly held off invading tribals from a breech within this inner wall in 2121, this second series of minor walls and gatehouses separates the common areas of the Commons from the inner heart of the settlement, the Basin. The Carlsbad Line as been tested by invaders more than once, but breached only once by the forces of the Mallrats in 2233. Recently the Carlsbad Line has been reinforced with automated sentry turrets by members of the Cult of the Electrode, to ensure their precious Temple of the Divine Spark is never again molested by the foul hands of unbelievers. The Capitol Bulwark The Commons The Temple of the Divine Spark The Basin The Carlot The Rusty Capitol The Sword School Category:Places Category:Montana Category:Groups